Swimmer's Daily

  • 12 slightly mad swimmers braved the cold temperatures and aggressive swells of the Hauraki Gulf in a bid to raise money for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter on March 31, 2016.

    The swimmers launched off from Waiheke Island to battle the ocean for 5-7 hours before arriving at the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust Chopper base in Mechanics Bay.

  • With a one-mile ice swim event being considered for inclusion at future Winter Olympics researchers at Winona State University in Minnesota and the International Ice Swimming Association (IISA) have investigated the performance and human physiological response in water -5° Celsius or less.

    The scientists analysed more than 80 ice swimmers ((71 male, 17 female) who completed ice mile swims, in an attempt to understand how age, gender and environmental factors such as wind chill affected performance.

    Ice swimming was a demonstration sport at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and is being considered as a permanent addition to the event line-up in future Winter Olympic games.

    “It’s amazing to see how a ‘silly’ idea eight years ago has taken off,” said Ram Barkai, IISA founder and board chairman.

    “Our study of the IISA data set wonderfully describes how much we as humans can ask our bodies to do while in an adverse environment (water that is 5° C or less) and how we can train our minds to accomplish these goals,” said Spencer Treu, a member of the research team.

    The team found a slight correlation between age and swim speed: The older the swimmers were, the slower they swam. However, the correlation was modest and suggests that ice swimming could be a sport in which individuals could be competitive in well into their 30s and 40s.

    Read 220 Triathlon

  • Olympic gold medallist Park Tae-hwan’s hopes of representing South Korea at Rio 2016 have been dashed after the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) refused to waive its rule on athletes competing at the Games who have failed drugs tests.

    Park, who won the men’s 400 metres freestyle race at Beijing 2008, was handed an 18-month ban after testing positive for testosterone before last year’s Asian Games in Incheon.

    The 26-year-old’s suspension ended on March 2 after he had his ban backdated to September 3, 2014, the date on which he provided the positive sample.

    He had hoped to be allowed to compete at this summer’s Olympic Games in the Brazilian city but the KOC have enforced their regulation, which states any athlete who tests positive for banned drugs is not allowed to represent the national team for three years, starting on the day the suspension ends.

    The ruling, introduced in 2014, caused controversy and the KOC immediately faced calls to amend the regulation.

    Read Inside the Games

    Photo by KOREA.NET – Official page of the Republic of Korea

  • CBC Sports reporter Jacqueline Doorey gets Canadian swimmer Santo Condorelli to spill about shaving habits, and his most embarrassing moment in the pool.

  • We sit down with Ofelia, Madison and the cast of Fear the Walking Dead to ask them the all-important question: Can Zombies swim?

  • In one of the best finishes in NCAA Swimming history, Chris Swanson took home the 1650 Championship, becoming the first NCAA Champion swimmer at Penn!

  • CBC Sports reporter Anson Henry hits Canadian swimmer Emily Overholt with a fun series of quick questions. Overholt, who won gold at the Pan Am Games and bronze at the World Championships, reveals the dirty truth that only competitive swimmers know, plus the movie soundtrack she hides on her playlist.

  • Chances are, you aren’t swimming in the deep blue waters of the ocean as you read this. If you are, congratulations on accomplishing a feat of modern technology and multitasking.

    For those of us who are confined to our laptops, this video is here to allow us to live vicariously through Dean Fredericks, a freediver based out of Cape Town, as he swims through crystal clear waters alongside a colony of Cape Fur seals off the coast of his hometown.

    See Atlas Obscura